Identifying reliable obesity indices for hyperuricemia among middle-aged and elderly populations: a longitudinal study

Background: Given the established link between obesity and hyperuricemia (HUA), the research want to investigate the relationship between different obesity indices and HUA, and further analyze which obesity index can better predict HUA.

Methods: The data were obtained from a longitudinal study involving middle-aged and elderly populations in Dalian, China. The research encompassed individuals who exhibited typical uric acid levels initially and tracked their progress over a three-year period. 8 obesity indices were evaluated retrospectively. Subgroup analyses were conducted to identify susceptible populations. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were utilized to model the dose-response relationships between obesity indices and HUA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were applied to visualize and compare the predictive value of both traditional and new obesity indices for HUA.

Results: Among 4,112 individuals with normal baseline uric acid levels, 950 developed HUA. Significant associations with HUA were observed for body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), body roundness index (BRI), cardiometabolic index (CMI), visceral adiposity index (VAI), Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and abdominal volume index (AVI). Subgroup analysis indicated that all obesity indices proved more effective in assessing the onset of HUA in women without Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). Further analysis using RCS revealed non-linear dose-response relationships between LAP, CMI, VAI, and HUA in males, with similar non-linear relationships observed for all indices in females. The results from the ROC curves indicate that LAP may serve as a better predictor of HUA in males, and CVAI may serve as a better predictor in females.

Conclusion: HUA is closely associated with obesity indices. Among females, CVAI emerges as the preferred predictive index for HUA. In males, LAP emerges as the preferred predictive index for HUA.